refusevsréguleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: refuse is a verb, régule is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“refuse” is a verb and “régule” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,013
“refuse” frequency rank
#34,734
“régule” frequency rank
36747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refuse régule
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de refuser. Nom donné à différents alliages d’antimoine, d’étain ou de plomb.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set refuse and régule apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
refuse
6 ch
régule

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

refuse and régule form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refuse is recorded at frequency rank #2,013, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fyz\. régule is at rank #34,734, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.ɡyl\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 36747, this pair ranks #267,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

refuse#2,013
régule#34,734

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "refuse" and "régule" be used interchangeably?
No, "refuse" and "régule" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering refuse vs régule

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “refuse”; for a noun, it's “régule”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “refuse” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list